Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Meetings in Frankfort, Lexington used to push for charter schools

Kentucky proponents of charter schools are pushing for the
independently operated, publicly funded schools as a solution to the
achievement gap.

A discussion of charter schools Monday at the
General Assembly's Interim Joint Committee on Education (KET Video here) centered on the
achievement gap for black, poor and disabled children in Fayette County.

A
panel discussion to introduce parents and community members to the
topic was held Monday night at the Northside Branch of the Lexington
Public Library, and a similar event is planned Tuesday night in
Louisville.

Attendees were urged to email their legislators about
charter schools after the town hall meeting, which was sponsored by the
Black Alliance for Educational Options and Kentucky Charter Schools
Association.

Mendell Grinter, director of Kentucky Black Alliance
for Educational Options, said even a pilot program would be a step in
the right direction.

Charter-school legislation has not been
successful in Kentucky and generally has not been favored by Democrats,
who remain in control in the state House of Representatives.

State
Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, last week mentioned
charter schools when he laid out a Republican agenda for the 2015
session of the General Assembly, but he said it and other issues were
unlikely to be approved by the House.

Charter schools, while
operating independently of a school district, are public schools,
according to the Kentucky Charter Schools Association's website.

Like
traditional public schools, they are funded by local, state and federal
tax dollars based on student enrollment but are touted as having more
flexibility. They may be run by groups of parents or teachers, nonprofit
organizations or in some cases by companies.

Charter schools are
free, and parents in states with charter schools may choose to send
their children to one of those schools rather than the school designated
by their school district.

Forty-two states have charter schools.
Nationwide, more than 6,000 charter schools are teaching 2.5 million
children, according to the association's website.

Wayne Lewis,
chairman of the board of Kentucky Charter Schools Association, said the
Kentucky Education Association has been one of the biggest obstacles to
the passage of charter-schools legislation in Kentucky.

"We have to get their constituencies to hold them accountable," he said of legislators.

And he said that would happen when people understood the disparities in achievement between white students and minorities.

"It's indefensible," he said at the town hall meeting. "The gaps in Fayette County are the largest that we see in the state."

Lewis
pointed to elementary school mathematics performance in public schools
in Lexington. In 2012-13, 61.1 percent of white children in Fayette
County scored at the proficient or distinguished level on the K-PREP
test. But 26.9 percent of black children scored at the proficient or
distinguished level that year.

Lewis told the legislative committee he was "fiery mad" about the gap.

He
said middle-class families could move their children if they aren't
satisfied with a school. "Poor people can't do that," he said.

He said at Lexington's town hall meeting that he would like to see "a number of different models" of charter schools here.

He
said more arts-focused schools such as SCAPA were needed, as well as
schools designed for children interested in the medical sciences,
engineering, law and education.

Dave Adkisson, president and CEO
of the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, told the legislative committee that
most of his members favored charter schools.

State Sen. Reggie
Thomas said he did not know whether charter schools were the answer, but
he called Fayette County's achievement gap "abysmal."

Thomas,
D-Lexington, represents the district that includes William Wells Brown
Elementary, which had the lowest test scores among all elementary
schools in the state in 2013-14.

He said that before he decided
whether Kentucky needed charter schools, he wanted to try to figure out
what's going on at William Wells Brown. He said he wanted to meet with
the principal and to "dig further" into what Fayette County schools must
do to correct the achievement gap.

"We've got some serious problems in Fayette County regarding the achievement gap," he said.
Fayette
County school officials have said they are putting an intensive plan in
place to fix the problems at William Wells Brown. The school board has
adopted the Fayette County Equity Council's recommendations to fix the
achievement gap.

Nicole Jenkins, a parent who sat on the panel at
the forum at the library, said she was not well-versed on charter
schools, but she did know one thing about the achievement gap: "If we
don't fix it, in 10 years, in 15 years, Lexington's going to be a very
different place."

She said "the district is missing an
opportunity" to look at schools such Dixie Elementary that are making
gains and find out what they are doing to improve.

"There are some gap kids that are doing great," she said. "How do we duplicate what's working well?"

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So far as we know, we only get one lifetime. So, when I "retired" in 2004, after 31-years in public education I wanted to do something different. I wanted to teach, write and become a student again. I have since spent a decade in higher ed.

I have listened to so many commentaries over the years about what should be done to improve Kentucky's schools - written largely by folks who have never tried to manage a classroom, run a school, or close an achievement gap. I came to believe that I might have something to offer.

I moved, in 1985, from suburban northern Kentucky to what was then the state’s flagship district - Fayette County. I have had a unique set of experiences to accompany my journey through KERA’s implementation. I have seen children grow to graduate and lead successful lives. I have seen them go to jail and I have seen them die. I have been amazed by brilliant teachers, dismayed by impassive bureaucrats, disappointed by politicians and uplifted by some of Kentucky’s finest school children. When I am not complaining about it, I will attest that public school administration is critically important work.

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On the campaign trail...with my wife Rita

An action shot: The Principal...as a much younger man.

Faculty Senate Chair

Serving as Mace Bearer during the Inauguration of Michael T. Benson as EKU's 12th president.

Teaching

EDF 203 in EKU's one-room schoolhouse.

Professin'

Lecturing on the history of Berea College to Berea faculty and staff, 2014.

Faculty Regent

One in a long series of meetings. 2016

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